When asked her plans for summer vacation, Jennifer Barnes, a fourth-grade teacher at West Rockhill Elementary School, has one of the all-time best answers, at least as far as she and her students are concerned.

Barnes will leave this summer on a mission taking her from Earth to space, scientifically speaking, at NASA's Stennis Base in Mississippi. A teacher for eight years, Barnes will become a student again, working with NASA scientists and engineers on projects that can be implemented in the classroom when she returns home.

She is one of 250 teachers across the nation attending the workshops at 11 NASA centers this summer as part of a 14-year-old program between NASA and the National Science Teachers Association. A national panel of past participants, including math, science and technology teachers, as well as supervisors and administrators, selected Barnes and her colleagues based on a number of factors.

"We were looking for candidates who showed good promise, and had the potential to become career teachers," said Wendell Mohling, project director of the NASA Educators Workshop project and associate executive director at the National Science Teachers Association.

"The candidates needed to be professionally engaged, and show they would not only use the information they learn directly in class but would develop an outreach program and share that information with teachers in their school district and the region," Mohling added.

Pennridge Superintendent Robert S. Kish said the district was especially pleased with this element of the program.

"We're very proud that Jennifer was chosen to participate in the NASA program," Kish said. "And we're looking forward to the training she'll receive and bring back to the schools. Her students will certainly benefit from the training."

Barnes herself is thrilled at the prospect of studying space and the Earth with some of the field's top scientists.

"I think what excites me most is getting firsthand knowledge of science and math that I would never have access to, both Earth and space science," she said.

She will also observe regular NASA activities scheduled at the base during her two-week stint, possibly even witnessing at least one test launch of a space shuttle engine.

Relaying this kind of experience, more glamorous than a typical science or math lesson, in her classroom curriculum is one of the most appealing parts of the program, Barnes said.

"The name alone grabs attentions," she said. "The fact that I'll be there with real NASA scientists and engineers is an exciting part, and learning how to translate that to the kids --well, any time you learn something new that you can apply to your job, it's exciting."